Sand pipe nozzle



Feb. 18, 1964 N. K. MOSES 3,121,578

SAND PIPE NOZZLE Filed July 24, 1961 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 03,l2l,5"78 SAND PEPE NQZZLE Nelson K. Mos-es, Ashtahula, Ohio, assignorto Railroad Rubber Products, lino, Ashtabula, Ohio, a corporation ofFlorida Filed July 24, W61, Ser. No. 126,006 2 Claims. (Cl. 29146) Thepresent invention relates to sanding devices for directing sand in frontof wheels of rolling stock and, more particularly, to a sanding valvenozzle for discharging sand from a delivery pipe onto railway railsbeneath the wheels of railway rolling stock.

It is customary and well-known to discharge dry sand when required ontothe rails and beneath the wheels of rolling stock to assist in thebraking or the traction of the rolling stock. For many years, suchequipment has comprised a sand hopper which is usually heated so as tomaintain the sand therein dry, a discharge pipe leading from the hopperand extending to an area adjacent the wheels and rails and a source ofcompressed air for propelling or sucking the sand from the hopperthrough the discharge pipe. The source of compressed air, which isoperable through suitable valve means by the railroad engineer, deliversair under pressure at approximately one pound per square inch throughsuitable tubing to the sand pipe and usually creates a suction to drawsand from the hopper, discharging the same through the end of the pipe.

The prior conventional sanding device described above and used by therailroads has a disadvantage of clogging should the sand in the pipe orhopper become wet from water or mist sprayed by the wheels of therolling stock. Also, in inclement freezing weather the ends of the pipewould become clogged with dirt and water thrown up by the wheels, thedirt and/ or water freezing over and blocking the end of the pipe. Theair pressure normally needed for dispensing sand was not suflicient toblast through such frozen dirt or ice and, consequently, the railroadshave heretofore carried an elongated rod in which the service men atfrequent intervals would check the sand pipe and related equipment tofree the same of any debris or ice. Since it was dificult to clean thepipe while the rolling stock is moving, oftentimes the sanding devicesbecame inoperative at the very time their operation was needed, namely,when the railroad rolling stock is operating during inclement weather.

To obviate the above undesirable conditions, efiorts have heretoforebeen made to provide nozzles on the sand pipe which will reduce orlessen the chance of the sand becoming wet or the end of the pipe beingclogged. For

example, mechanical valve structures have been proposed for closing theend of the pipe when not in use. However, such mechanical valvestructures required special actuators and redesigning of existingequipment and their operation has not proven satisfactory in that theirlinkage and valve operating members became clogged under conditions ofinclement weather, especially when the weather is freezing. The cleaningof such valve structure was a laborious operation. Railroads have beenreluctant to use mechanically actuated nozzle valves because of the costinvolved in installation and upkeep as well as because the operation wasnot completely satisfactory.

Other types of nozzles developed for the delivery end of sand pipesinclude one-piece tubular bodies formed of 3,l2l,5?ii Patented Feb. 18,1964 "ice an elastic material, the tubular bodies being so molded as toprovide a tapered, constantly open outlet with special internal trapchambers and the like. In each instance, the tubular bodies of suchnozzles have an opening of reduced area as compared to the outlet areaof the sand pipe, the principle being that if the openingbecomesclogged, the air pressure propelling the sand will flex the wallsand break the ice therefrom. Such nozzles made of the elastic materialhave to some extent minimized the clogging but by being constantly openat their ends, they still permitted moisture and humidity to travelupwardly through the sand pipe which oftentimes caused the sand tobecome wet, thus clogging the same. In addition, when ice formed on theinterior of the nozzle, as well as on the exterior of the nozzle, thenormal air pressure used to dispense sand was not enough to cause thewalls of the nozzle to flex sufficiently to break the clogged end of thesame.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sand valve nozzlemade of elastomeric material which normally coses the end of the sandpipe to the ingress of water or humidity but will open automatically bythe application of the air pressure necessary to cause the fiow of sandfrom the sand hopper.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a sandnozzle having an automatic valve effect, the sand nozzle also having adischarge opening capable of extension to the full size of thecross-sectional dimension of the sand pipe so that the pressurenecessary for opening the sand nozzle need not be increased over the normal low pressure used to discharge sand from the hopper.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a sandvalve nozzle made of an elastomeric material which can be inexpensivelymade by a simple extrusion and pressing process.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sand valvenozzle made from elastomeric material and so constructed as to insureproper distribution of sand regardless of weather conditions, the valvenozzle being operated automatically by the air pressure dispensing thesand.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willappear more fully from the following specification, claims and drawingsin which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the use of the presentinvention with the wheel of railway rolling stock;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the sand valve nozzle of thepresent invention prior to its insertion or attachment onto the end of asand pipe;

PEGURE 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially on theline 33 of FIGURE 2 and illustrating the relaxed condition of the wallsof nozzle prior to attachment on the sand pipe; and

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the sand valve nozzle of the presentinvention taken substantially on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1 but showingthe end portion of the nozzle in its open position for dispensing sandrather than in the closed position as shown in FIGURE 1.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like characters or referencenumerals represent like or similar parts, the present invention isillustrated as an attachment in sanding equipment ordinarily used withthe railroad rolling stock or the like. It will be understood that thewheels of the rolling stock where the sanding equipment is ordinarilyused may be either drive or traction wheels or any of the Wheels of therolling stock which may be braked. Also, while the invention isprimarily intended for use with railway rolling stock, it could be usedon any rolling stock where better traction or braking is desired, suchas buses, automobiles and the like.

In more detail, the usual or conventional sanding equipment includes asand supply hopper or reservoir 19 suitably supported on the framestructure of the railway rolling stock generally indicated at 12, a sandpipe 14 having one end connected to the sand hopper it? and the other ordischarge end positioned adjacent a wheel 16 and a source of compressedair 18. The source of compressed air 13 supplies compressed air at apressure of approximately one pound per square inch through a pipe 20 tothe sand pipe 14. A valve 22 operable by the train engineer controls theapplication of compressed air through the pipe 2a) to the pipe il -i,and it will be understood that when compressed air is applied throughthe pipe 29 it will cause the sand from hopper ll? to be suppliedthrough the usual sand trap 24 to the pipe 14 where it is dischargedbeneath the wheel 16 onto the rail 26.

As mentioned at the outset of the specification, it is extremelyimportant that the sand supply remain dry at all times in order thatthere can be a flow of the material when such a condition is desired.Consequently, it is the usual practice to position the sand hopper tilon the frame structure 12 in such a place that no moisture can get intothe same. Additionally, the hopper 1% is oftentimes heated by a dry heatso that the sand therein remains dry and flowable.

As illustrated in FIGURE 1, the sand valve nozzle 28 of presentinvention is shown attached to the end of the sand pipe 14 by means of ahose clamp 39 or other suitable clamping means. The sand valve nozzle 28is made of an elastomeric material such as a natural rubber, neoprene, acombination of natural rubber and neoprene, a synthetic rubber, andplastics or the like. In other words, any elastomeric material havingthe resilient properties of rubber can be used for the sand valvenozzles of the present invention.

The sand valve nozzle 23 is made by extruding rubber or the like into atubular piece of rubber having substantially the same interior diameteras the exterior diameter of the sand pipe 14 to which the nozzle is tobe attached. The wall thickness of the extruded piece of tubularmaterial is preferably approximately one-sixteenth of an inch, thusproviding the necessary flexibility and resiliency to the tubing, aswill be explained in more detail later in the specification. After thetubing is extruded, it is then passed through a pair or presser rolls soas to cause the tubing to assume a flat ribbon or band-like shape, asshown in FIGURES 2 and 3. When rolled fiat, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3,the interior of the tubing is defined by a pair of walls 32 and 34 whichlie in substantially contiguous relationship because of the internalstresses in the elastomeric material resulting from the pressingoperation. The tubing thus formed may then be cut into nozzles ofsuitable lengths of approximately six inches, the width of the tubingbeing approximately two inches.

The tubing after being cut to its proper length is then ready forinstallation on the end of the sand pipe 14, as shown in FIGURE 1. Thisis accomplished by expanding one end of the tubing over the end of thepipe 14, as shown in FIGURE 1 and then clamping the same thereon by theclamp 349. When this is accomplished, it will be noted that thelongitudinal portion 36 of the tubing which is immediately adjacent theend 325 of the pipe 14 is circular in cross-section but tapers down to aflat ribbon-like end portion 349. Because of the internal stresses inthe elastomeric material, the end portion 40 will have its internalwalls normally in a contiguous closed relationship. However, additionalstresses are created in the flat ribbon-like end portion th due to theexpansion of the portion 36 from a flat section to a tapered sectionwhen it is applied over the end 38 of the pipe 1d. These additionalstresses assist the internal stress in returning the Walls of theportion 49 to their contiguous closed relationship with each other.

As shown in FIGURE 4, the end portion 49 of the sand valve nozzle 28opens up when compressed air is supplied to the pipe 14 to dischargesand therethrough. The internal walls 32 and 34 of the portion 4% spreadapart and provide an unrestricted opening for discharging the sand in aspray substantially as wide as the spray from a sand pipe not having avalve nozzle. When the pressure of compressed air is cut off, theinternal and other stresses in the end portion dil cause the walls 32and 34 to return to their normal closed position and thus prevent theingress of moisture, dirt or the like. By having the thickness of thewalls of the tubular band approxiimately one-sixteenth of an inch, theproper opening and closing may be obtained with a minimum pressure suchas a pressure of approximately one pound per square inch normally usedto dispense sand from conventional sanding equipment.

As will now be apparent, the present invention provides a simple,economical and efficient sand valve nozzle for use with conventionalsanding equipment. The sand valve nozzle fully accomplishes the objectsand advantages of the invention in that it positively prevents ingressof foreign matter, such as water, dirt and the like into the sand pipe,as it remains closed until the sand control valve is open. Because ofits flexibility and because it has no moving parts, it will operate inmy kind of inclement weather.

The improved sand valve nozzle heretofore described and illustrated inthe drawings is susceptible to some modifications and changes withoutdeparting from the spirit and principles of the invention involved.There fore, the terminology used in the specification is for the purposeof description and not limitation, the scope of the invention beingdescribed in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A sand nozzle for directing sand adjacent the wheels of rollingstock, the nozzle being attached to an end of a sand pipe through whichsand is delivered under air pressure, said nozzle comprising anelongated tubular element made of an elastomeric material havingflexibility and resiliency, said tubular element being adapted to bedisconnected from the end of the sand pipe and when attached to the endof the sand pipe having a longitudinal portion adjacent thereof taperingfrom a substantially circular cross-section into a fiat ribbon-likeportion, said flat ribbon like portion having interior walls normallypressing together in a relaxed substantially contiguous relationshipbecause of first internal stresses in the clastomeric material, saidflat ribbon-like portion having additional stresses created therein dueto expansion of the longitudinal portion tapering from the substantiallycircular cross-section into the flat ribbon-like portion, whichadditional stresses assist the first internal stresses in retaining theinterior walls in contiguous relationship, said walls having acumulative width substantially equal to the internal circumference ofthe longitudinal portion of the tubular element immediately adajcent itspoint of attachment to the sand pipe, said walls being opened bypressure of air when air is applied to dispense the sand beneath thewheels of the rolling stock.

2. In combination with a sand pipe to direct sand delivered by airpressure beneath the Wheels of rolling stock, a sand valve nozzle madefrom an elongated flat band of elastomeric material having flexibilityand resiliency, said band having a width equal to approximately one-halfof the circumference of the end of said sand pipe to which the nozzle isattached and having a wall thickness in the order of one-sixteenth of aninch, one end of said flat band being expanded and extended over andattached to the end of the sand pipe with the 5 other end of said flatband remaining substantially fiat and having its interior wallsmaintained in a contiguous relationship because of first internalstresses in the elastomeric material, said other end having additionalstresses created therein due to said one end being expanded and extendedover and attached to the end of the sand pipe, which aditional stressesassist the first internal stresses in retaining the interior Walls incontiguous relationship, said other end defining a closed end of saidnozzle, the

closed end of said nozzle being adapted to be opened by 10 pressure ofthe air delivering the sand and closed by the first internal stressesand additional stresses in the elastomeric material when air pressure iscut 011?.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS SloanJuly 8, Robinson Dec. 23, Trotter Oct. 29, P'feifier May 30, HilkerneierJan. 9, Walden et a1. Apr. 29, Langdon May 27, Loftus Aug. 12, CatlinJune 16, Kravogna Dec. 15,

1. A SAND NOZZLE FOR DIRECTING SAND ADJACENT THE WHEELS OF ROLLINGSTOCK, THE NOZZLE BEING ATTACHED TO AN END OF A SAND PIPE THROUGH WHICHSAND IS DELIVERED UNDER AIR PRESSURE, SAID NOZZLE COMPRISING ANELONGATED TUBULAR ELEMENT MADE OF AN ELASTOMERIC MATERIAL HAVINGFLEXIBILITY AND RESILIENCY, SAID TUBULAR ELEMENT BEING ADAPTED TO BEDISCONNECTED FROM THE END OF THE SAND PIPE AND WHEN ATTACHED TO THE ENDOF THE SAND PIPE HAVING A LONGITUDINAL PORTION ADJACENT THEREOF TAPERINGFROM A SUBSTANTIALLY CIRCULAR CROSS-SECTION INTO A FLAT RIBBON-LIKEPORTION, SAID FLAT RIBBON-LIKE PORTION HAVING INTERIOR WALLS NORMALLYPRESSING TOGETHER IN A RELAXED SUBSTANTIALLY CONTIGUOUS RELATIONSHIPBECAUSE OF FIRST INTERNAL STRESSES IN THE ELASTOMERIC MATERIAL, SAIDFLAT RIBBON-LIKE PORTION HAVING ADDITIONAL STRESSES CREATED THEREIN DUETO EXPANSION OF THE LONGITUDINAL PORTION TAPERING FROM THE SUBSTANTIALLYCIRCULAR CROSS-SECTION INTO THE FLAT RIBBON-LIKE PORTION, WHICHADDITIONAL STRESSES ASSIST THE FIRST INTERNAL STRESSES IN RETAINING THEINTERIOR WALLS IN CONTIGUOUS RELATIONSHIP, SAID WALLS HAVING ACUMULATIVE WIDTH SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE INTERNAL CIRCUMFERENCE OFTHE LONGITUDINAL PORTION OF THE TUBULAR ELEMENT IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT ITSPOINT OF ATTACHMENT TO THE SAND PIPE, SAID WALLS BEING OPENED BYPRESSURE OF AIR WHEN AIR IS APPLIED TO DISPENSE THE SAND BENEATH THEWHEELS OF THE ROLLING STOCK.